Forget-Me-Nots
by Akira4444
Summary: Returning from his Trial, the Sixth Doctor anticipates meeting Peri Brown after knowing her fate. Instead, with the TARDIS in confusion, he meets her great aunt during the Second World War.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Any characters you do not recognise are from my own mind. I would like to thank Aietra for her putting up with me as I bothered her on Skype with this story, followed by some amusing chatplays. I welcome constructive feedback as it has been several years since I have uploaded any fan fiction. Above all, I hope you like the story!

* * *

**Prologue:**

It was a beautiful summer's day and a twelve year old girl was picking some Forget-me-nots from her backyard. Her mother mentioned they would be having a special guest over today, all the way from London. "Your great aunt is coming to stay, Peri," Her mother smiled and pet her gently on the head. "She hasn't been well, so we've offered to take care of her."

The thought seemed to linger in young Peri's mind. She wasn't sure what her mother meant by 'not well,' so Peri was hoping to pick the most colourful flowers the Brown family had in their backyard.

"Peri!" Called her mother, and she looked up from her crouching position as she finished arranging the flowers in her hands. "Come inside and get ready, your father just called. They're on their way from the airport now!"

Peri smiled. She got up from the garden and smoothed down her dress when she had a strange feeling of someone watching her. She turned her head, but no one was there. Shrugging it off, she hurried back into the house. "Coming, mom!"

* * *

Peri peeked through her pale pink bedroom curtains as the family car rolled to a stop outside their house. She watched quietly as her father climbed out of the driver's side and opened the boot of the car, then opened the passengers' side. He escorted a tall lady with grey hair tied back in a bun wearing a string of black beads and dressed in a purple pant suit. She carried a cane, and seemed to be pointing at something on the corner of the street. Peri craned her head – wondering what her great aunt was pointing at, but couldn't see anything.

Her father made a quick gesture to the window when he noticed Peri watching them, indicating her to come and help with the luggage. Peri made no second to hurry down the stairs and she soon beat her mother to the sidewalk, nearly tackling her great aunt in an embrace.

"Oh, Peri!" She said, her voice croaked with age. "My dear, you have grown!"

"I picked you these." Peri said, as she presented a bunch of crumpled forget-me-nots from the back pocket of her golden coloured dress.

Annette Langley chuckled and took the flowers, prompting a sweep of a kiss on young Peri Brown's forehead. "Ah my dear, you will be a wonderful botanist one day. I have a new story to read you tonight."

Peri's father, Peter, shook his head. "Aunt Annette, really? Must you spoil Peri with these fantasy tales of yours? Honestly – traveling through time with a mysterious man in a blue box?"

Peri frowned. "Dad doesn't like them, but I do. I think they're wonderful."

"Stop being a spoil sport, Peter." Annette made a threatening movement with her cane. "Go and get my luggage, If my great niece appreciates my stories then so be it."

Peter sighed. "All right. Take Aunt Annette inside, Peri." He instructed, as young Peri nodded and took her elderly great Aunt by the arm.

"Do you really like my flowers? I'd like to study them one day." Peri asked, as her great aunt took a couple of steps and paused; clutching her chest. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, dear. It's just my heart. It's not as spectacular as it used to be! Oh, and study flowers you will my dear. In fact, the Doctor mentioned frequently of a girl he met. Hence why I suggested to your mother she name you Peri." Annette smiled. "He spoke so fondly of her."

Peri seemed a little confused at how her great aunt was talking. However, she shrugged it off. "Maybe we can go and pick some wildflowers tomorrow morning? Mom said there's a great farm nearby with a really lovely herb garden too, she could use some herbs for cooking."

Annette, looking down at young Peri with a tired look in her eyes smiled. "Yes my dear. Another adventure. How wonderful. But we'd best get inside, I can feel your father glaring at us again."

"He does that a lot," Peri replied with a chuckle. "I generally tell him to ignore it and be happy once in a while!"

Annette chuckled and coughed, causing Peri to look at her suddenly. "Yes, that's what I told your mother. She is my niece after all."

The pair wandered inside followed by Peter who lugged Annette's luggage into the house at the end of a rather quiet cul-de-sac.

* * *

Later that night, Annette wandered into Peri's room. Peri sat up in her bed and gave a bright smile to her frail aunt. "Can you tell me how you met the Doctor?"

Sadness filled Annette's eyes for a brief moment and soon disappeared as she sat at the corner of Peri's bed. "All right. But, some parts are quite scary."

Peri pulled a face. "That weird boy next door kissed me yesterday. I'm not scared of anything anymore!"

Annette stared at Peri and then laughed. "You didn't push him in the mud again, did you?"

Peri shook her head. "He pushed me, and he felt bad."

"Okay. I'll tell you how I met the Doctor. I was thirty-two..."

_Insert the Sixth Doctor's theme here..._


	2. Chapter 2

**FORGET-ME-NOTS**

_A Sixth Doctor Story_

By Carrie.

**Author's Notes**: Once again I do not own Doctor Who. Annette is a original character created by me. Constructive feedback is heavily welcomed. I'll post more if I get a review! Thanks!

* * *

Annette Langley carried a silver tray containing some meat, vegetables, a forget-me-not in a vase and a glass of cool water up the stairs. Tending to her heavily pregnant sister was one of her greatest joys in the world, and they were expecting to move to America once the baby was born. Life just seemed more prosperous over there; compared to the dark face of war in the heart of London. Many houses around them lay in rubble and many were empty, but Annette did her best to keep the house - which had been in her family for generations - in order.

The servants had fled, the younger siblings had moved to the country, and Annette received word of her father's passing at the hands of Germans merely two weeks ago. She had lost her mother in childbirth a year ago delivering the youngest of the Langley children. Annette had tried her hardest, but with resources cut back so drastically – it was either lose the mother or the baby.

So, looking after her sister the best way possible. She knocked on her door. Carefully creaking it open she saw her sister Mary propped up in bed reading a book. Annette had always been jealous of Mary in a way, she was rather beautiful. Annette was the eldest out of all the children, however and she sighed happily as she set the tray on Mary's left side.

"Do you need me to help you with the blackouts?" Mary asked her, and Annette shook her head.

"No. I've already put them up, all the windows are covered." Annette smiled as Mary placed the tray on her lap. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She patted her belly. "I am hoping this baby will be born soon. Did you send for the Doctor?"

"Yes," frowned Annette. "He will not come until the morning. The wireless said that the Germans are planning more attacks... nearly all the neighbourhood has gone. I do not know why you didn't go to the country with the children! I would have sent for you."

"I know you would have. It would take several more weeks for me to receive Tom's letters, you know what the postal service is like. We received father's last letter months after his friend with gall bladder problems was sent home and he came around for a visit!" Mary grunted, and Annette clasped her hand. "I'm fine, really. Please. You need to eat. Don't worry about me."

Annette pursed her lips and rose from the bed, smoothing down her skirt. "All right, but ring that bell as soon as you need me! I'll be up for a little while." She kissed her sister on the forehead and turned to walk down the corridor.

"The Doctor will come in the morning, yes?"

"Of course." Smiled Annette.

* * *

The Doctor had barely moved from his console in days. The Trial had been incredibly draining on him, and the directions he was hoping to turn had just left his TARDIS face an infinite loop. He could feel her lust for adventure and she could feel his pain. Peri's events _could_ not have happened that way – despite the Valeyard's attempts to make them so. He let out a sigh and turned, facing the white walls of his console room.

He faced himself in a desperate situation of wanting to _find_ Peri, apologise to her – that is, if the events of her final moments before becoming King Yrcanos' wife were true. The Doctor didn't want to believe it knowing that was _exactly_ what the Valeyard wanted him to.

He'd spent the last few days searching the Universe for any essence of Peri Brown. He'd lacked on his recommended hour of sleep. His cheeks failed to show any colour at all, and his usually bright coat seemed to have faded as a result of his mood. Eventually he stepped back from the console and let his hands slip into his pockets, watching the Time Rotor hum quietly. "Was he right all along?" He asked the TARDIS. "Did I really abandon Peri?"

A flicker of hope crossed the Doctor's face, however – finally a tube blinked on the other side of the console and he hurried to it as he felt colour return to his cheeks. He stood back and laughed, patting the Time Rotor and flicking a switch as the TARDIS exited the loop. "Oh, you _incredible_ old girl! I _knew_ you'd find her! Just make sure you document _everything_. I implore this as a matter of urgency that the whole Trial was complete and utter nonsense. I've found you, Peri!" The TARDIS shuddered violently – the Doctor struggling to stay upright. "Wait a minute! I didn't leave Peri in this Time Period! But oh, my memory has been less than reliable lately – perhaps I did."

* * *

With Mary settled, Annette had finished her supper. She was washing up the dishes when she heard a strange noise coming from the cellar. Setting the dish and the tea towel down, Annette reached for a pistol kept atop of the pantry. It wasn't unheard of for intruders to pass this area – and Annette couldn't take any chances. Cocking the pistol with a shaky hand she started making slow movements across the floorboards. It sounded as if someone was rattling the cellar door. But, how could that be?

The cellar hadn't been accessed in years. Her father wouldn't allow anyone to trespass, and Annette wasn't one to venture down there even though he had passed. She swallowed hard, feeling her palms sweat and nearly dropping the loaded pistol as a strange sort of blue flashing light from outside came through a small crack from the boarded up windows in the kitchen. "I've got to get Mary out of here," she whispered. A shadow suddenly crossed her path and she felt her heart skip a beat. The shadow extended up in front of her, near the wall, when a man jumped out.

"There you are, Peri!"

Annette jumped and fired the pistol with a terrified scream. The bullet missed the intruder with a loud BANG as it hit an expensive vase behind him for he too also jumped.

"I'm sorry I abandoned you, but there's no reason for you to try and _kill_ me!" The Doctor stepped forward as he made eye contact with the short, thin brunette woman trembling like a leaf. She couldn't be any older than thirty-two. "Peri?" His voice squeaked a little as he attempted to calm her. She was quickly raising her pistol again and the Doctor in turn raised his hands. "No, no. Don't shoot! I won't hurt you. I promise." It couldn't be Peri. Her eyes hindered no sense of recognition. It bothered him. Why did the TARDIS land him here? "Just... put the gun down. I promise I won't hurt you."

There was something in his tone, which made Annette's sweaty grip on her pistol loosen. She was still trembling, however. She had never wanted to fire a pistol at all in her lifetime, but if it were to protect Mary and the baby she had no choice. The intruder wore a coat of many colours; a red polka-dot cravat and an interesting coloured vest with teddy bears for buttons. His yellow pinstripe pants, green boots and neon orange spats weren't something to take seriously either. In fact, Annette's fear finally started to turn into that of a smile. She lowered her pistol and suddenly burst out laughing, hinting at a scent of nervousness. He couldn't be an intruder dressed like that! "You look ridiculous." Annette chuckled, as the intruder's face turned from that of being gentle to confusion.

"Oh come on Peri!" The Doctor said with a shake of his head. "We've been through this already! You've become used to this wonderful sense of fashion I have." He reached forward and gave her a gentle squeeze of the shoulders, but what he didn't expect was an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying backward a few feet. Darkness swirled around him once his head hit a coffee table and he lay quite still.

Annette dropped her pistol and ran to the intruder, her heart racing. She didn't want to kill him! Why was he calling her Peri? Looking around, Annette picked the intruder up by his ankles and dragged him across the floor. Grunting as he was quite heavy, she struggled to put him on the couch in the living room feet first. The scuffle had clearly woken Mary for she was standing in the hallway with her hand on her belly.

"Annette, what have you done!" Mary cried, hurrying forward and helped her sister lift the intruder's upper body onto the couch as his right arm dangled to the side. "Is he..."

Annette puffed from the effort of carrying the intruder and shrugged. "I don't know." She paced back and forward for a moment, shaking her hands in an attempt to calm herself down. Another quick look at the intruder and she didn't notice any blood on his face. Wringing her hands together as Annette looked to her sister, she suggested "I could listen for a heartbeat."

"Do you think it's the Doctor they sent? Maybe he came through early after all..."

"No. He didn't have a medical bag on him." Taking a breath, she made a few steps forward and pressed her head against the intruder's chest. She could feel him breathing through his nose against her hair, but the heart beat was odd.

"Annette?" What's wrong?"

"Something sounds a little off. It doesn't sound like a normal heart beat, the beats are different. Maybe I should call a Doctor..." Annette wandered to the telephone.

"No one will come at this hour, Annette! We'll just have to keep him restrained until the morning. He didn't try to hurt you, did he?" The colour from Mary's cheeks started to fade and she sat down in a nearby lounge chair, propping her feet up on a stool.

Annette allowed her hand to go to her side. She sighed. "I suppose I should stay with him. I didn't mean to hurt him – just look at his clothes, Mary! Surely a man dressed like that wouldn't harm us. Unless he's homeless. Maybe I should check his pockets."

"What if he wakes up?" Mary asked.

"Just go upstairs and use the telephone in father's study if I don't give you a verbal signal."

"The grass is greener?" Mary questioned with a brow raise as Annette nodded.

"Yes, go on. And do stay calm! Everything will be all right."

Mary shuffled to her feet with a grunt and wandered back up the stairs as Annette started to peel aside a lapel of the intruder's coat. She dug her hand into the pocket of his yellow pinstripe pants and pulled out a yo-yo. She set it aside. Feeling the pocket in his coat next, she took out a strange silver device. It had a trigger and it looked like a miniature pistol. Suddenly, the intruder stirred and Annette grabbed the yo-yo and put it behind her back with the silver pistol.

The Doctor groaned, raising a hand to his chin. "Susan?" He called, clicking his jaw back and forth a few times. What had made Barbara so angry this time? He slowly got up as the lounge room started to spin. Another hand reached for the back of his head, and satisfied that he could still feel curly hair he let out a sigh. "Glad I didn't regenerate, wouldn't want to lose this handsome face so early! Right, Susan?" He looked around. "No! Not Susan. Peri. Yes, Peri! She hit me! Oh, now I remember," His face fell for a moment. "Unless, she's not Peri?" His eyes finally fell on Annette. "Hello! I do believe you have some items of mine behind your back."

Annette fumbled with the yo-yo and the pistol as the intruder started to ramble. Feeling sorry for the fact that she had knocked him out earlier, she didn't want to do it again so throwing one of them at him wasn't an option. Sighing, she presented the objects in question. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"

The Doctor took his yo-yo and sonic disrupter. He placed them back in his pocket and smiled. "I wouldn't _dream_ of hurting you! You're her ancestor!" A pause. "How far along, though. Ah. Yes. No – you're a little too old to be her grandmother. Yes! Great-Aunt! I swear the likeness is _incredible_, clearly the genes in Peri's female line are quite strong – not to mention her personality." Definitely the personality. He clicked his jaw again.

Annette was more confused than the moment the Doctor stepped through her front door. "You're clearly babbling. I'm sorry I hurt you. I will send for a Doctor in the morning – he needs to see my sister, I fear her baby could be due at any moment..."

"Baby?" The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Oh! It's Peri's mother about to take her first breath. I assure you my dear, she will be absolutely fine with no complications in fact her daughter is..." He was cut off by a sudden smash coming from under their feet. "...tell me. You weren't happening to hold a pistol on my behalf were you? What is your name?"

Annette's nerves started to get the better of her and she found her palms sweating again. The crash beneath their feet didn't help, either. "No... I heard a noise coming from the cellar just before you showed up. My name is Annette. Annette Langley." Perhaps he was here to help after all. She didn't seem to understand what he was talking about, but the brief sense of trust she had felt when he had asked her to lower the pistol returned. Annette couldn't face what could be down in the cellar alone, and she swallowed. "Are you sure you're all right? I pressed my ear against your chest earlier and your heart beat seemed rather irregular."

The Doctor nodded. "I am. Honestly! Oh, and don't worry about that." He grinned. "I'm the Doctor. I am a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I wouldn't want to go back there so soon, it's a rather silly place as of late." Recalling the earlier Trial he shrugged, and noticed Annette had gone rather white. "Perhaps I should be asking if you are all right?"

"You're a... what? From where?" Annette squeaked, wringing her hands together and moving away from him in surprise.

The Doctor sighed. "I'll explain later. Come on! We _must_ investigate the cellar." He took a long stride forward as Annette hurried after him following a minute of hesitation, and instantly the Doctor felt himself again.

* * *

A glowing ball hovered before his sunken thin lipped face, as the scene of the multi-coloured Doctor and his new companion came to a close. The ball ceased to glow for a second but remained to hover as the Keeper of the Matrix felt he was no longer alone.

"Must you intrude, Coordinator? Your sallow presence is hardly welcoming in my Matrix." He turned to see Coordinator Vansell standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. "I take it that you have been observing this current nonsense the Doctor is up to?"

"I have indeed." Vansell said with a clear of his throat. "It is quite.. unnerving to say the least. The Doctor is clearly violating Miss Brown's timeline! We must take him out of there at once."

"Oh," Chuckled the Keeper of the Matrix. "I do have another plan, Coordinator. The younger sister shall remain alive as expected, but the Doctor and Ms Langley..." A smirk crossed his pale face as he waved his hand over the orb. It glowed again, giving a sickly yellow hue to the Keeper and Vansell's face as they watched.


	3. Chapter 3

"The grass is greener!" shouted Annette, glancing to the staircase in hope that Mary would hear that she was all right.

"Of course it is!" replied the Doctor, cheerfully. "On the other side. Now, do you mind passing me a hair pin?" He gestured to the old, heavy lock hanging on the wooden door before them.

Annette pulled a pin from her brunette hair as a spiral of curls descended over her right shoulder. She passed the pin to the Doctor. "Do you realise how many times I scolded my younger siblings for this act?" She put her hands on her hips.

The Doctor casually looked up at her with a small smile. "Several! But, with very good reason. What lies in this cellar could be either boxes falling over or a mutant rat. However, judging by the sound witnessed earlier; I doubt either option to be relative to the source of the sound"

A brow rose. "I'm concerned as to what could be lurking in the cellar. You say you are a Time Lord from Gallifrey. Is that some kind of..." she thought for a moment "...pest exterminator?"

The Doctor fiddled with the lock and looked over his shoulder again with a chuckle. "Oh, Annette! Exterminating pests is the _least_ of my problems." He heard a few gears click and turned his attention back to the lock. "Come on! I doubt even a key accessed this old thing. It's all rusted!"

"Then, what are you?" Annette asked as suddenly the heavy lock fell to the floor at the green boots of the Doctor. "A scientist? A Government official? A secret society member?"

The Doctor shoved the lock aside and outstretched his hand containing the pin. "Just the Doctor will do. You wouldn't have given me your hairpin if you didn't trust me."

Annette was lost for an answer. The Doctor was absolutely right, and nor would she have given Mary their secret phrase. She picked the pin from his palm and pocketed it in her dress pocket. "Very well." Annette uttered shakily. "Open the door, Doctor. My father was always rather secretive. I'm actually curious to see what's down here."

The Doctor turned as Annette took the chance to briefly distract herself with the complicated patterns of fabric on the back of his coat. She found herself reaching out and touching a complicated mix of fabric with threads even she hadn't seen before sitting next to the green felt. They seemed to sparkle oddly at times. She lowered her hand as the Doctor opened the door.

He took a few steps forward. The Doctor painfully knew his new companion was not indeed Peri but her Great-Aunt, and it struck a dagger through both hearts. He could feel the Valeyard mocking him. The whole Trial did seem to make sense after all. He clenched his fists, feeling the human soul walking behind him but soon quickly paused. No! There was a more realistic threat here. Yes, she wasn't Peri. But – there was no reason why he couldn't shape her to be like Peri. No! He had to stop thinking this way.

A dim blue light covered the pair, and he felt Annette's breath on the back of his neck as she gasped.

The blue light seemed to come from the end of the room and their first point of call was a desk. The Doctor dusted off a leather bound file with his right hand and held it up, peering at the stamped title.

"Interesting," The Doctor called, hearing Annette wandering around behind him but not too far from his range. He liked that. "It seems your father was dealing in robotics."

Annette whirled around as dust picked up. She cleared her throat. "Robotics? What are you talking about? It sounds like something only Jules Verne would think of..." She scoffed at the last statement and the Doctor grinned.

"Ah! Robotics is very real indeed my dear. Although, you're not as well-informed as you should be, but robotics is alive during the war!" The Doctor unbound the file by pulling the strings on the side.

Peering over the Doctor's shoulder, Annette's eyes absorbed a letter addressed to her father. "Torchwood?" She asked the Doctor, and paused as the gears grinded in her mind and a light bulb switched on. "Yes! I remember. One night about ten years ago, a man came to the house to have a private dinner with my father. I never did catch his name, however; he made several passes at me – which I point blankly refused, but this was when the whole nonsense with the cellar began."

The Doctor was too busy reading the letter while Annette was speaking. He drew away from her and picked up the letter as some dust settled around his green boots. "Hmm?" Was his typical response to indicate his mind was elsewhere. "Very odd. It seems to be a letter of employment. The Director's name has faded as well as his signature." He set the letter aside when suddenly the blue light switched off.

Annette let out a squeal, and the Doctor heard footsteps. He fumbled around for Annette's wrist to ensure she was still there and grabbed it as the footsteps grew closer and seemed to cause a beat the Doctor had heard many times before.

"Tea, Master?" A robotic voice sounded.

"Tea? What...?" The Doctor echoed, and Annette used her free hand to switch on a light switch. The glow fell eerily on the figure before them. "Impossible!"

"Tea, Master?" The robot repeated.

"Annette, get out of here. Now. Now!" The Doctor started to shove Annette up the stairs.

"Would Master like some tea?"

"Doctor! What's going on? What is it?" Annette cried as she scrambled up the stairs and the robot started to march closer toward them.

"It's a Cyberman!"


End file.
